Wednesday, 2 March 2011

As of this week we have a new home for our Cloakroom blog.Dan and the team at The Letter D have been working their magic helping set us up with a new Word Press format for the blog and a new and improved Pistols at Dawn website.

Monday, 21 February 2011

We'd love to show you around the new digs, so please drop in and say hi.

This year we have a few new additions to our team. Joining Mitchell and I (Andrew) will be Ben, who among other things is our resident shoe expert and Thurs shoeshiner, and Louis who brings some invaluable experience to the team. Louis is a native of Montreal, but has lived and travelled across Europe, NY and now Brisbane.

In the last week we have seen it all come together at the new store. Josh our shopfitter managed to get his hands on some beautiful Tasmanian oak which we have used through the shop for the shelves and racking. It's great to see the space change and feel more like a Cloakroom shop each day. Much thanks to all the boys for their hard work.

Friday, 11 February 2011

This month's Map Magazine hits the streets today (check it out online), and we've run a double page for the opening of our new Brisbane store.We have been slightly pre-emptive with the opening date, but we are hoping to be open on Thurs (Feb 17th).

The new store is located at 104 Edward st, which is just a short stroll down Edward st from the bottom of the Queen Street Mall.

Although our address details have changed we are contactable on our usual number 3210 1515 and on all our current email addresses.

The last few weeks have been crazy trying to get our hands on the keys, and then getting started on the fit out for our new Brisbane flagship. It's been all hands on deck with everyone pulling their weight, and then some. The painting in particular has been a mammoth job. I guess that's one of the few downsides of having a large shop.The new shop will be our Brisbane HQ, and as of Feb 20th our only Brisbane store (we will be closing our James st store in the next fortnight). The extra space and long term lease means this will be our most comprehensive store to date. We hope it comprises all of the things we have dreamed of and that you, our customers, would hope for in a menswear store.

The space has fantastic light, and with the high ceilings and timber floors plenty of character.

As one of our Cloakroom signatures we had to of course stay with our black theme that we've done in all our previous stores.

Tuesday, 8 February 2011

Was a real pleasure to look after Roger and his groomsmen, for a winter wedding in Switzerland. The boys are all in black wool cashmere suits (Roger with morning coat) dove grey wool waist coats, off white pinpoint shirts and custom made silk ties.

Monday, 7 February 2011

Bronte Beach is a 10 minute ride, almost in a straight line east from home. I made the rookie error one afternoon of catching a bus from the store ie Elizabeth st, Oxford st then Bondi Junction. It was hot and took over 40 minutes. Generally I find the public transport pretty good and use it a lot to get around. Though I think once you get into narrow suburban streets it gets clogged quite quickly.

A bit of an institution I think. The first time I visited was with a local friend of mine. I soon found myself riding with a crew on fixed wheel pushies racing through the eastern suburbs. The schooners beforehand did nothing to help me keep up. This was taken while with the Brisbane Cloakroom boys last time they were in town.

Monday, 17 January 2011

It's been a tough start to 2011. After all the rain here in Brisbane we've now just experienced a once in a lifetime flood event and it's been very distressing to see the damage that has be wreaked on our city.To all those people who've been affected our thoughts are with you. Tough times like this sometimes have a strange way of bringing us together and it seems the rising spirit of the Brisbane population has been the only upside to a tragic week.

Thankfully none of us at The Cloakroom have been affected directly. At some points during Wed & Thurs we were sure our James st store would go under, but somehow we were spared.We are still pressing on with our plans for a new Brisbane store to be open this month, but the enormity of what has happened has given us some new perspective, so we appreciate your patience if this takes a little longer than we had hoped.

A lot of businesses out there are doing it tough so please support the local operators and stores in your area. Everyone's help is crucial.

At the moment we are still only trading from our James st store, but for all our city customers we are still taking appointments in town. We hope to see you soon.